No charges to be filed in 2022 officer-involved shooting in Ulster Co.

PINE BUSH, N.Y. (NEWS10)– Charges will not be filed in the officer-involved shooting death of a Wawarsing man in 2022, according to a newly released report by the Office of Special Investigation (OSI).

Daniel McAlpin, 41, was fatally shot by a trooper after reportedly threatening officers with a knife, and now investigators say they cannot disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer’s actions were justified, the Office of the New York State Attorney General announced Friday.

Around 8:35 p.m. on September 9, 2022, troopers and Ulster County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a home on Clark Road in Wawarsing for reports of a mental health emergency. Members of the Ulster County Mobile Mental Health crisis team said McAlpin was holding a large knife and a “black BB or airsoft gun.”

Investigators said when law enforcement arrived, McAlpin was upstairs, behind a closed door with a knife. Around 9:23 p.m., officers said they tried to speak to McAlpin and convince him to drop the knife, but he refused.

Police say a trooper tased McAlpin while he was walking down the stairs toward the officers, swinging the knife and firing plastic pellets from an airsoft gun. Police said once he reached the bottom of the stairs, McAlpin moved toward the officers and threatened them with the knife. According to police, another trooper pulled his gun and fired twice.

An OSI investigation determined while on the floor, McAlpin reportedly attempted to get up and began swinging the knife again when officers yelled at him again to drop the weapon. The trooper then shot his gun three more times, striking McAlpin, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

The troopers were later identified as Elias Strickland, who shot the taser, and Jason Wurtz, who shot his gun.

According to the OSI, a police officer can use deadly force when they believe to be in danger.

“OSI concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer reasonably perceived his life as in danger when he fired the first two shots, nor disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer was justified in firing the additional shots because Mr. McAlpin continued to swing the knife,” the Office of the Attorney General said in a release. “Therefore, OSI determined that criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter.”

The family’s lawyer said they disagree with the OSI decision.

“We categorically disagree with the Attorney General’s decision not to hold Trooper Jason Wurtz accountable for the death of Daniel McAlpin — a man who had no criminal history, was experiencing a mental health crisis, posed no threat, and urgently needed care,” said Samuel Shapiro, Partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP and co-counsel to the McAlpin family. “Mr. McAlpin was alone in his own home, without any firearm, and surrounded by officers in body armor carrying high-caliber weapons. He was tased and then shot multiple times after he had already collapsed. Nothing can excuse what happened, and we are committed to working with his family to secure the justice and closure they so deeply deserve.”

McAlpin’s mother said the decision sends a troubling message to families when someone needs help.

According to the Office of the Attorney General, the OSI has recommended that the state police implement new protocols for involving mental health professionals when responding to mental health calls. The OSI also recommends that troopers develop new protocols to share information within their agency before responding to these calls and improve its emergency response training to ensure all members are trained to de-escalate a situation.

According to the lawyers, the family lawsuit against Wurtz is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.